OMA in Seoul

OMA

On October 13, 2004, a recently completed building by the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) will open in Seoul, South Korea, as part of Samsung Museum of Art. The building covers a gross area of 13,500m2 for temporary contemporary exhibitions, media and office spaces.

Samsung Museum of Art project is a 27,000m2 masterplan designed by OMA in 1997. Located in Hannam-Dong – a residential district near the city centre  the complex comprises two other buildings by Mario Botta and Jean Nouvel for the permanent collection of traditional Korean art and modern/contemporary art collections respectively. The three buildings converge into a central mixing chamber that forms the lobby and information area.

The museum complex entry is through the OMA building via a ramp leading directly into the mixing chamber.

Local architect and engineer Samoo worked with OMA on the realization, while Arup of London was engineer of the master plan and the initial design for the museum.